Girls In Tech Hosting Amplify Pitch Competition October 18th

Girls in Tech, a global organization focused on the empowerment, entrepreneurship, engagement, and education of women in technology, is proud to announce applications are open for the sixth annual AMPLIFY, still the world’s largest half-day pitch competition for early-stage technology startups for female entrepreneurs.

AMPLIFY Women’s Pitch Competition brings together over 500 innovative women serial entrepreneurs, engineers, angel investors, VC’s, journalists, executives, product developers and designers from around the world for an exhilarating half-day of innovative startup pitches and cutting-edge keynotes from the industry’s most forward-looking leaders. The competition will take place in San Francisco on Wednesday, October 18, 2017, at Zendesk.

Since 2012, the percentage of women-led venture-backed companies has plateaued at 17 percent, with a zero percent growth in the last 5 years. What’s more, these companies only raise 17 percent of seed funding.

The problem could have origins in the pitch process itself, with some studies finding that gender may color how investors see the individuals who pitch them.

Enter AMPLIFY Pitch Competition, which seeks to empower women founders with the support network that they require to fund innovative solutions.

During the competition, women entrepreneurs will have 10 minutes to pitch their early-stage technology startup onstage to a panel of seasoned tech industry professionals and investors to be judged based on the innovativeness and viability of the product or service. All ten competition finalists will receive the opportunity for mentoring and winners will receive a cash prize along with additional resources such as office space, laptops or equipment to move their startup forward.

“We at Girls in Tech wanted to use this opportunity to call on the industry to empower women entrepreneurs,” said Adriana Gascoigne, CEO of Girls in Tech. “We hope that this takes us one step closer address the challenges that women face during the search for funding.”

The event also features three inspiring keynote speeches by some of the most successful female startup founders and high-tech executives, as well as leaders in the tech industry who are allies in the women in tech movement.